Nisha Chittal | Vox

Vox’s new membership program, explained

2025-09-03T14:02:16-04:00

Since our founding in 2014, you’ve supported Vox in our mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world so that we can all help shape a better one. We think of you — our audience — as being at the heart of everything we do. With every story, podcast, and video we create, we ask ourselves: What does our audience need to know about this topic? What matters to them? What questions do they have? Our journalists strive to bring you clarity, context, and nuance on all the topics that affect your world and your daily life. Together, we’ve learned about everything from artificial intelligence, the Supreme Court, and meatless meat to personal finance, climate solutions, parenting, and more. This vital journalism wouldn’t have been possible without the continued support of our readers, listeners, and video audience.

That’s why we launched the Vox Membership program. It’s a celebration of our decade-long commitment to serve our audience and build our community. This program will allow us to offer you deeper access to Vox than ever before.

So what does it mean to be a Vox Member? What kind of cool perks do you get? And why is Vox doing this?

Why is Vox launching a membership program?

Quality journalism is expensive to produce. We rely partly on direct support from our audience to fund our work. For the past four years, people have been contributing to Vox because they believe in our mission of creating smart, approachable journalism.

With our new membership program, we plan to build on that foundation by creating a closer two-way relationship between our audience and Vox.

So what exactly is the Vox Membership program? What do I get for joining?

Vox Membership is a new community with some exciting perks. Most importantly, your membership will help Vox continue to produce the journalism you rely on to understand the world around you. But we’ll also be rolling out special benefits to members to thank them for their support. Members will receive:

Unlimited access to all stories on Vox.com
Ad-free podcasts
The Vox Explainer, a members-only newsletter that goes behind the scenes on how we make our journalism
Access to The Highlight, our monthly members-only digital magazine, which includes a selection of in-depth features, conversation-driving essays, definitive explainers, and more
Exclusive access to gift links to share your favorite stories with your favorite people

And that’s just the start. We’ve got more planned and we want to hear from you about how we can build this community in the months ahead.

How do I become a Vox Member?

If you have already committed to a recurring monthly or annual contribution to Vox, you don’t need to do anything else. You can now consider yourself a Vox Member and you can expect to hear from us on your new benefits! Thank you for your continuing support.

If you’re not already a recurring contributor, become a member by clicking right here. Vox Members make recurring contributions of at least $5 per month or $50 per year. Reliable support from our audience allows us to invest in ambitious projects and continue to cover the most important issues and ideas shaping society.

Can I still make a one-time contribution?

Vox’s mission is to make reliable news coverage accessible to everyone, and that isn’t changing. We created Vox Membership to encourage recurring support and express our gratitude to those who are able to make that commitment. However, one-time contributions to our newsroom are as important as ever and we’re working on ways to keep one-time contributors informed on what’s new at Vox.

How do I access my member benefits?

Once you’ve signed up, you’ll create an account so that you’re able to read all of our member-exclusive articles. We’ll also make sure you’re getting the latest behind-the-scenes information from the Vox newsroom and access to all the perks that members receive. And if you ever experience issues or have a question for us, email us at membership@vox.com. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Thank you for supporting us for the last 10 years. We hope you’ll join us for the next decade and join the Vox Membership program today.

What the Kamala Harris identity debate shows about America

2024-08-01T12:26:32-04:00

Sen. Kamala Harris speaks to reporters after the fifth Democratic primary debate on November 20, 2019. | Paul Saul/AFP via Getty Images

Editors note: In July 2024, while speaking at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) conference, former President Donald Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’s racial identity, saying: “She was always of Indian heritage. She was only promoting Indian heritage, I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump said. “So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” This story, first published in 2020 and updated in 2021 when Harris was sworn in as vice president, discusses America’s difficulties with talking about the identities of multiracial people.

The swearing-in of Kamala Harris as vice president of the United States was a historic moment that celebrated other historic firsts: The first Latinx Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, did the honors as Harris’s hand rested on the Bible that belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice.

In her new role, Harris will break many barriers of her own: She is the first woman, first Black person, and first person of South Asian descent to become the vice president of the United States.

But such boundary-breaking is never without strife. When Harris was nominated in August, her biracial identity prompted much discussion on social and traditional media about her background as the daughter of an Indian immigrant mother and a Jamaican immigrant father. While some South Asian voters were upset that this part of her identity has long been downplayed, others were excited about the historic nature of her nomination and what it represents for South Asian American women and women of color. Meanwhile, some Black voters debated whether she is truly “Black enough,” and far-right critics pushed birther-style arguments, questioning whether Harris is a US citizen and her eligibility for vice president.

My mother always use to say, “Don’t just sit around and complain about things. Do something.” I dearly wish she were here with us this week. pic.twitter.com/RHO2VnlZs4
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 13, 2020

But her multiracial identity shouldn’t have been new information. Harris has had a long career in public life: She was a San Francisco district attorney, the California attorney general, a US senator, and ran for the Democratic nomination for president last year. And yet for years, she has primarily been identified as a Black woman in the public eye, with her South Asian identity rarely mentioned in media coverage until fairly recently. Some of this could be a personal choice — a longtime friend of Harris’s told the Washington Post in 2019 that he had only learned she was also of South Asian descent after knowing her for 15 years.

For multiracial people, defining their racial identity in America can be a complex and fraught issue because of other people’s assumptions and expectations. And what the energy expended on debating Harris’s identity tells us is that we still have a long way to go when it comes to talking about multiracial people in America.

Media coverage has long focused on Harris’s Black identity, and discrimination against Black people plays a role in that

When Harris won her Senate seat in 2016, news coverage repeatedly highlighted that she was only the second Black woman elected to the Senate (the first was Carol Moseley Braun, in 1992). But her victory that day also represented another milestone that some of those same news outlets did not mention: She was also the first South Asian American person elected to the Senate.

Karthick Ramakrishnan, a professor of public policy at the University of California Riverside and founder of AAPI Data, suggested earlier this year that one of the reasons Harris might be more commonly portrayed as Black in the media is because of America’s history of using the “one-drop rule,” a racist practice that dates back to slavery.

“When you had someone who is the son or daughter of a Black person and a white person in the South, they would have been considered a slave and not a free person, and that legacy continued on through Jim Crow. They would not have the same rights as white people if you had even ‘one drop’ of Black blood. So that legacy is still very powerful; it affects not only how white people or American society in general think of Black folks but also how Black folks think of themselves,” Ramakrishnan told Vox.

Black Americans have historically faced much deeper oppression and systemic racism than Indian Americans, and as Slate’s Nitish Pahwa notes, “the Indian experience is nowhere near as central to American politics and to American life and history as is the Black experience.” Black Americans also face much deeper injustices than any other racial or ethnic group in America: They’re more likely to be killed by police, and at the moment they are disproportionately affected by Covid-19 as well as unemployment and the economic crisis.

Growing up Black in America is also a very different experience from growing up Indian in America, as Indians have frequently benefited from “model minority” stereotypes — the false belief that Asian Americans are smarter, more hardworking, or more successful than other racial and ethnic groups. It’s a trope that has been used as a “racial wedge” between Asian Americans and Black Americans.

Diana Sanchez, a Rutgers University professor who studies multiracial identity in America, noted that research has shown that “when you have Black ancestry in your background, and this is seen as the lower-status group in society, people will tend to categorize you along those lines.” Sanchez added that Harris’s “South Asian identity might be perceived as higher status because of the way discrimination works and some of the positive stereotypes that exist for Asian American groups compared to Black American groups. So she is likely to be categorized as a Black candidate.”

Much of society, especially white society, can look at Harris and perceive her as Black, and she will face discrimination as a result of that, regardless of which culture she might choose to identify with — and that has likely played a big role in how she views herself in the world.

Harris’s background represents a uniquely American melting pot story

In her 2019 autobiography, The Truths We Hold, Harris wrote of how her Indian mother raised her with an appreciation for Indian culture, cooking her daughters Indian food, giving them Indian jewelry, and taking them on trips abroad to visit extended family. But Harris wrote that she was also keenly aware that the world would perceive her and her sister as Black women first and foremost: “My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters. She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women.”

Harris also made choices that indicated she was leaning more into her Black identity over time: She attended Howard University, one of the country’s most prestigious historically Black colleges, and joined a Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Harris speaks fondly of her time at Howard and often emphasizes her time there in response to critics who question her Black identity.

But that doesn’t mean that her Indian heritage isn’t part of her identity, either. Harris’s late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, has long been a prominent part of her story. Gopalan, a breast cancer researcher who grew up in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, graduated from college at the age of 19 and immigrated to the Bay Area in 1959 to attend graduate school at the University of California Berkeley. There she met Donald Harris, a fellow graduate student who later became a professor of economics.

You can’t know who @KamalaHarris is without knowing who our mother was. Missing her terribly, but know she and the ancestors are smiling today. #BidenHarris2020 pic.twitter.com/nmWVj90pkA
— Maya Harris (@mayaharris_) August 12, 2020

The couple married and had two daughters; they divorced when Harris was 7 years old, and Harris and her sister were raised primarily by their mother. Gopalan was active in the civil rights movement in Berkeley in the 1960s and ’70s, marching in protests with her husband and sometimes bringing her daughters. It is the kind of family story that represents an increasingly multicultural, demographically diverse America: two immigrants from different countries who both came to the US to pursue higher education, who then raised two Black and South Asian daughters.

But it seems that for some, Harris’s uniquely American multiracial identity is less the utopian future we’re striving for and more a source of confusion — and sometimes even a justification for racism and suspicion.

The real problem is America still doesn’t know how to treat multiracial people

Pew Research estimates that 6.9 percent of the adult American population is multiracial, and the Census Bureau predicts that the multiracial population in America will triple by 2060. But though this identity group is growing rapidly, many Americans still don’t know how to talk about multiracial people. Americans want to be able to easily label people by race and put them into one box.

Harris herself told the Washington Post in 2019 that when she entered politics, she felt pressure to define herself. “When I first ran for office that was one of the things that I struggled with, which is that you are forced through that process to define yourself in a way that you fit neatly into the compartment that other people have created,” she told the Post. “My point was: I am who I am. I’m good with it. You might need to figure it out, but I’m fine with it,” she said.

Sanchez says that multiracial people can face what she refers to as double discrimination, where they experience discrimination from both communities they are members of. In Harris’s case, that leads to South Asians saying she’s not South Asian enough and Black people saying she might not be Black enough. “So there’s all these different sources of discrimination that are affecting the development of your multiracial identity and your experience with it, and that can make it hard to navigate,” Sanchez said.

Many South Asian Americans were excited about Harris’s historic nomination. Pahwa wrote for Slate that while he was conflicted about Harris’s political record, the moment was “undeniably a landmark moment for the South Asian diaspora. No matter how you spin it, it is progress, a bold assertion of the United States’ multiculturalism.”

But Harris has also faced detractors. Indian media has pondered the question of whether Harris is Indian enough, and she has simultaneously been accused of not being “Black enough.” In 2019, accusations swirled on Twitter that Harris was not an “American Black” because her father was a Jamaican immigrant, rather than the descendant of enslaved people (these rumors later appeared to be the work of a coordinated bot campaign, but it was still retweeted by Donald Trump Jr. and spread briefly into the mainstream). Similar attacks on Harris’s Blackness began anew after her VP nomination, with Newsweek publishing an op-ed pushing birther-style questions about her citizenship and eligibility to be vice president, which a top Trump campaign adviser retweeted.

In 2019, Harris described the accusations of not being Black enough as “hurtful” and “challenging,” telling journalist Jemele Hill: “For other people who can’t figure out am I ‘black enough,’ I kinda feel like that’s their problem, not mine. Maybe they need to go back to school to figure it out. And maybe they need to learn about the African diaspora and maybe they need to learn about a number of other things.”

Carole Boyce-Davies, a professor of Africana studies at Cornell University, told Vox earlier this year that the pressure to choose an identity is something uniquely faced by Black Americans with immigrant families. “This is a good time for Americans to think through this question, and particularly since it’s not raised often in the context of white immigrant identities. [White immigrants] just pass and fade into white identities, and nobody knows what their background is.” The pressure to choose one identity over the other, Boyce-Davies said, is “often put on Black subjects, or subjects of color, where people feel you don’t have full allegiance to one identity when really we are all a complex set of identities.”

This is, unfortunately, a familiar situation for multiracial Americans. Over a decade ago, then-Sen. Barack Obama faced similar questions about whether he was “Black enough.” And Harris, who was then the San Francisco district attorney, spoke up in his defense in a San Francisco Chronicle article in 2007, saying: “The conversation highlights the lack of information that people in general have about African American contributions. … That is the added significance of Barack Obama. He is opening up what has been a limited perspective of who is an African American.”

Sanchez explained that multiracial people are often challenged on how they identify — and, as Obama and Harris have proven, will continue to be challenged. “You may choose an identity and people often feel the right to disagree with that,” she said. “There’s a lot of research on identity denial, where multiracial people uniquely encounter interactions where someone told them they can’t identify a certain way for various reasons,” she added.

This is perhaps why Harris has at times deflected questions about how she identifies, saying during a 2019 campaign event, “How do I describe myself? I describe myself as a proud American.”

Meanwhile, for South Asian Americans who wish that Harris highlighted her Indian heritage more, it’s worth asking why they might feel that way. South Asian communities have their own long history with colorism and anti-Black racism. Lakshmi Sridaran, executive director of the nonprofit group South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), suggested that Harris’s nomination should be seen as “an opportunity to look at the issue of anti-Black racism in our community.” Sridaran added: “The deeply seated anti-Black racism in the South Asian community is not often a welcoming place for anyone who identifies as Black. Confronting that racism should be the priority of the South Asian American community right now, especially given the current movement to expose and eliminate police violence.”

Harris shouldn’t have to choose to be either Black or South Asian

How Harris chooses to identify is ultimately a personal decision, and as a biracial person in America, that is undoubtedly an even more nuanced, complex issue for her to navigate.

As Ronald R. Sundstrom, author of The Browning of America and the Evasion of Social Justice, wrote for Vox, “Ultimately, it is a mixed person’s prerogative to be fluid in their identity, for them to sometimes hold one, or both, and for that to change over time.”

We’ve seen it before: When one person from a marginalized group breaks barriers and ascends to new heights, they shoulder the weight of their entire community’s expectations. When a woman runs for president, she is expected to represent all women; when a Black person runs for office, they’re under pressure to represent all Black people. And when a woman of color runs for office, let alone a multiracial woman who identifies with two major racial groups, she carries the burden of even more expectations on her shoulders.

But Harris is just one person, and she cannot be all things to all people. She doesn’t need to neatly fit into anybody’s box. And now, her barrier-breaking vice presidency is also a powerful win for representation of multiracial people in America.

Traveling with a baby? Here’s what you need.

2023-07-24T20:50:54-04:00

For expecting parents, travel can seem like one of those parts of life that’s off the table after having a baby. The ability to be spontaneous, to just pack a carry-on bag and head to some far-off destination for a few days, to run around exploring new cities, restaurants, beaches — all of it seems impossible. It doesn’t help that many parents and grandparents who have been there before will warn you to travel now, “while you still can!”

But as the parent of a now-16-month-old, I can say from experience that this is categorically false. I’ve now taken my daughter on many trips, including flights to the Midwest and Canada, and road trips to upstate New York and Washington, DC. The first trips we took were nerve-wracking: Did we pack all the right things for her? Would she sleep okay in the new place, thus allowing us, her parents, to sleep okay? Did we remember every possible item we might need to have at arm’s reach in the event of catastrophe while in transit?

With each successive trip, though, we got more and more confident. Each time, we learned a little bit more about how to optimize our travel routine. We learned what items we needed and what we would be fine without. We learned that you should definitely pack a lot of wet wipes, and that navigating the airport is a lot easier with a lightweight travel stroller than with your big everyday stroller.

You can absolutely travel with a baby, as long as you accept that it will look a little bit different from the way you traveled before. And one of the ways it looks different — besides having to juggle your vacation plans around the baby’s nap schedule — is that you need a lot of gear.

Specifically, there are a number of things that can make traveling with a baby or toddler much, much easier. There is a wide world of products out there, some of which are for making plane travel smoother, while others make vacation at your eventual destination more enjoyable. Wading through the options can be overwhelming, and it’s hard to know which products are worth the money and/or packing space.

The recommendations we’ve put together — by talking to travel experts, parenting specialists, and seasoned moms and dads on the Vox staff — are not meant to be one-size-fits-all. Pick and choose what feels most useful and valuable to you based on your travel style and budget. You might, for instance, be totally fine skipping a travel high chair if you don’t mind having your baby sit on your lap for meals. You might feel your regular stroller works well enough for vacation and you don’t need a travel stroller.

And remember: You don’t always have to spend money to get these products. A secret of modern parenting is there is a whole economy of parents swapping baby and kid stuff they’re done with. Ask friends and family who have kids older than yours if they have what you need, or source from a neighborhood parent group or local Buy Nothing group. If you’re able to get (or borrow!) something for free, that can be more valuable than having the “best” brand.

Things to pack that are genuinely useful

Travel stroller

That perfect stroller that you spent months researching and selecting before the baby was born? It may not be very well-suited to traveling, particularly if it’s a big, heavy model. When traveling, you want something that’s lightweight and compact, since you’ll need to fold up the stroller when going through TSA checkpoints and when gate-checking it.

All of this means traveling will be easier if you get a second stroller specifically designed for travel. There are two kinds: travel strollers, which generally fold up into thirds in a little compact rectangle, and umbrella strollers, which tend to be cheaper than travel strollers and fold up more like a long stick or umbrella shape.

I have the Summer Infant 3DLite stroller, which is a relatively inexpensive, light umbrella stroller. This thing has gotten us through trips big and small.

Summer Infant 3DLite stroller, $79

For a travel stroller, Vox audio producer Victoria Chamberlin recommends the GB Pockit+ All-Terrain stroller: “We took this to Germany, Scotland, and Italy. It folds to half the size of a rolly suitcase and can go under most seats and in all overhead compartments,” Chamberlin said. “Highly recommend if you have an international flight connection because if you gate check a stroller, you will not get it back until your final destination. When we got stranded in London overnight, I was very happy I had this in my hot hands.”

GB Pockit+ All-Terrain Stroller, $280

And Corinne McDermott, author of the travel website Have Baby Will Travel, recommends just bringing your regular stroller on trips, provided it can play double duty. “It’s not necessary to purchase a second stroller specifically for travel if your main one works well,” McDermott says. “A stroller is not just a stroller when it comes to travel with babies and little kids. It is a bed, a high chair, a buggy for all of your stuff, and a baby jail for when you need to know your baby is in a secure spot while your hands are full and attention is elsewhere. Our beloved stroller was the UPPAbaby Vista, which was our everyday stroller that worked great for travel. It is easy to maneuver, the basket holds a lot, it’s high enough to push up to a table for mealtimes, and the deep recline was great for naps.”

UppaBaby Vista V2 Stroller, $969

Travel car seat

One of the most annoying things about traveling with a baby is that you need to lug your car seat around everywhere if you plan to take a taxi or ride in any car at all. You could try bringing your regular car seat if it’s small, like an infant car seat — but otherwise, most parents I know recommend leaving the heavy convertible car seat in your car and getting a much lighter travel version.

Vox video managing producer Val Lapinski recommends the Cosco Scenera Next, a travel car seat that weighs just 10 pounds. Says Val: “It’s ubiquitous for a reason — it weighs nothing.”

After having a miserable time dragging our bulky convertible car seat through Newark Airport and around our destination of Toronto, my husband and I bought the Cosco car seat upon Val’s recommendation to use for our future travels. Just a month later, we took it on a trip to Chicago and immediately knew it had been worth it. It was much lighter and easier to carry around; my husband’s shoulders were grateful.

Cosco Scenera Next car seat, $60

Travel bags for both the car seat and stroller

If you’re flying, most airlines allow you to gate-check a stroller and a car seat for free. But items can be damaged during the gate-check process, so it’s a good idea to invest in travel bags to protect them from scratches and other wear and tear. I have these simple red bags from J.L. Childress.

J.L. Childress Car Seat Gate Check Bag, $20

J.L. Childress Stroller Gate Check Bag, $23

A lightweight baby carrier

If your baby is still small enough for babywearing, bring a carrier — it’s nice for carrying the baby around the airport once you check or gate-check your stroller, and it’ll be helpful when you want to do short outings where a stroller might feel cumbersome, like going to a restaurant.

Emily Oster, an economist and author of the parenting books Expecting Better, Cribsheet, and The Family Firm, recommends the BityBean carrier: “It’s a very lightweight baby carrier that goes front or back and can range from a very small baby up through a 2-year-old. I spent many an hour in the back of an airplane flight bouncing a kid in this thing. Generally, in my view, the less gear the better, so this was a big win when we discovered it.”

BityBean Ultra Compact Baby Carrier, $70

Travel crib

Unless you’re staying somewhere that offers a crib, you will need a travel crib that folds up compactly and is easy to carry around to provide a safe sleep space for your baby.

The Graco Pack ’n Play is beloved by many parents (including myself). It’s easy to assemble, fold up, carry, and store, and comes with a bassinet attachment for younger babies.

Graco Pack ’n Play Playard, $80

Chamberlin recommends the Guava Lotus travel crib: “This is way lighter and easier to put together than a pack and play, and takes up less space as a backpack than similar models. Also, it has a bassinet insert you can get if your baby is that little.”

Guava Lotus Travel Crib, $249

Travel high chair

You most likely already have a high chair at home, but when traveling, you might want one that’s easy to collapse and carry.

Says Chamberlin: “This is our go-to travel high chair. It is good for the floor, and also attaches to a dining chair. And if you take the tray off, it’s a camp chair. We have used it for travel to visit family, camping, and hotels.”

Summer Infant Portable Booster Chair, $30

Baby headphones, if you’re into screen time

Screen time can be a godsend on vacation when you want to have a nice dinner at a restaurant and need your toddler to sit still and be quiet for a little while. Bring your iPad with preloaded shows, but don’t forget baby headphones so the rest of the restaurant’s patrons don’t have to listen to Ms. Rachel. I use these.

BuddyPhones Explore+ Headphones, $30

Portable white noise machine

One of the most important keys to a successful vacation with your baby is sleep. Maintaining a baby’s sleep schedule and making sure they get adequate naps and good sleep at night, even in a new setting, is crucial. If you use a white noise machine at home as many parents do, then you likely want a small portable one to pack on vacation. I use this one, which is chargeable and has a little hook that makes it easy to strap onto your stroller or car seat for naps on the go, too.

Yogasleep Hushh Portable White Noise Machine, $27

Portable blackout curtains

Many kids need total darkness to be able to sleep, and the varying light situation in hotels and Airbnbs can wreak havoc on daytime naps. Many Vox parents recommend portable blackout curtains to create that perfect darkness — everyone will be happier if the baby has had a solid nap.

Catherine Spangler, a supervising producer on Vox’s video team, says: “These blackout curtains with suction cups have been lifesavers across three continents for us.” The suction cups make them easy to attach to any window, and they’re lightweight and easy to fold up and throw into your carry-on bag.

Tommee Tippee Portable Blackout Curtains, $19

A diaper bag that holds everything you need for the flight

A diaper bag that holds and organizes all the essentials you might need in flight — from diapers and wipes to snacks and bottles and the iPad and headphones and an extra change of clothes — is important to a less stressful flight.

Your everyday bag might work, but Jessica Darrington, who runs the baby travel website and Instagram Where Is Briggs, also recommends the ultra-structured travel diaper bag from No Reception Club. Says Darrington: “This diaper bag has been a game changer when traveling with a baby because it has kept all of our gear organized. I’m amazed at everything I can fit inside and love that this bag counts as a personal item and can go under the seat in front of me on the airplane.”

No Reception Club “The Getaway” Bag, $235

Things you can probably skip bringing

Tons of diapers

Save your suitcase space and bring only enough diapers to get you through the trip — you can always buy more diapers when you arrive at your destination.

The SlumberPod

As far as I can tell, this is basically a tent for babies to sleep in, but the entire $180 tent is made of blackout shades. Some parents I know love it, but we’ve never invested in one — portable blackout shades have worked just fine for us and are much cheaper.

Travel baby monitor

Travel baby monitors are things that exist, but there are also a million baby monitor apps that turn devices like iPads, with cameras and microphones, into monitors that stream to your phone. Save your money and skip buying a travel-specific device.

How to travel now

2024-10-30T17:10:37-04:00

After three years of pandemic life, travel is back in a big way this summer.

More people are taking trips this summer after putting plans on hold, but climate change, social media-fueled overcrowding, rising costs, and other factors have converged to make travel decisions more fraught than ever. For Vox’s first-ever travel guide, we wanted to answer some of your most pressing questions about travel now, from how to navigate the many decisions and ethical dilemmas around traveling, to explaining why our travel and transportation systems are designed the way they are.

Each week throughout July, we’ll be publishing new articles and videos answering your biggest travel questions. Stay tuned for more! — Nisha Chittal, managing editor

All the advice you need for an actually good vacation:

Travel’s many design quirks, explained in video

The Vox guide to HBO’s “Succession”

2024-06-20T18:03:06-04:00

Currently in its fourth and final season, HBO’s Succession has become an award-winning must-watch show. The dark comedy centers on the inner workings of the sprawling media corporation Waystar Royco, which is run by Roy family patriarch Logan Roy, and the maneuverings of his four children, who are struggling to win power and take over the company when their father retires. The family is obscenely rich and the characters mostly unlikable, and the show is a commentary on wealth, power, and abuse.

The show, which airs Sunday nights at 9 pm Eastern time on HBO, stars Brian Cox as patriarch Logan Roy, as well as Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, and Alan Ruck as his four scheming children. This season, Vox senior reporter Whizy Kim is recapping each week’s episode. Whether you’re just starting the show for the very first time or have been watching along since the beginning, our guide below includes episode recaps, analysis, and everything else you need to know to keep up with the hit show in its final season.

Season 4

Season 3

Season 2

Season 1

Explainers

A not-intimidating guide to meal planning

2024-06-26T15:26:27-04:00

Have you ever stared at the contents of your refrigerator at 7 pm, trying to figure out what you might be able to concoct with the random assortment of items you have on hand? Deciding what to cook for dinner every night, whether you’re feeding yourself, a partner, or an entire family, is a task that involves far more mental work than just cooking — it also takes planning, preparation, and organization. Without a plan, figuring out dinner might involve running out to the grocery store after work to buy ingredients for the recipe you’ve just decided to make and finally eating at 9, or it might end in giving up and ordering takeout once again because you just can’t figure out what to cook. And if you’re busy, or just overwhelmed by other parts of your life, figuring out how to feed yourself three times a day, every single day, becomes even more challenging.

But there is a way to make cooking dinner much simpler and far less anxiety-inducing: meal planning. For the past six years, I have been devoted to the strategy of planning out the meals I’ll cook each week. This organizational strategy has made my weeknight dinners easier and more efficient, saved me time and money, and kept my life organized. (During that time, I also became a parent, making time, energy, and money ever more finite resources in my household; meal planning has helped make things slightly more manageable.) I have a searchable database of more than 1,500 recipes that I’ve bookmarked over the years. It would not be an exaggeration to say that meal planning changed my life: I’ve become a better home cook since I started meal planning, becoming more confident in my cooking skills and more adventurous in the types of recipes I try out. And I’m almost never stressed about what to cook for dinner on any given night because I’ve already decided ahead of time — and I always have the exact ingredients I need for that recipe in my fridge.

Putting healthy and delicious meals on the table every day is about far more than just the actual act of cooking: There is a vast mental load that goes into cooking, from selecting recipes to making grocery lists to keeping tabs on what ingredients you have on hand and what needs to be used up, in addition to remembering family members’ varying likes and dislikes and dietary restrictions. Meal planning can help you manage that mental load so that cooking dinner feels less like a chore and begins to become something you actually enjoy.

If you want to start cooking more in 2023, starting to meal plan might be a great resolution for you. And you don’t have to be an organizational wizard to start doing it — you can build a system that works for your needs, lifestyle, and schedule. Here’s how to get started.

What’s meal planning, and what’s the difference between that and meal prepping?

Meal planning is the act of picking out the recipes you’ll cook each day of the week, like setting a menu for the week ahead. Meal planning is different from meal prepping. Meal prepping, which might make you think of rows of Pinterest-perfect pre-portioned Tupperware containers, is the habit of preparing batched meals ahead of time, often on Sundays, so that you don’t have to prepare meals during the week.

Which strategy is right for you? It depends on your needs and your schedule. Meal prepping can be better for those who can commit several hours to cooking on weekends but don’t have time to cook on weekdays, since meals are already prepared and portioned and you can simply grab them out of the fridge. If you like variety, though, or hate leftovers, meal prepping might not be for you, since it can often require eating the same meal multiple times in one week.

Meal planning allows for more variety, if you have the time to cook on weekdays — but it still saves you a lot of time by accomplishing most of the menu logistics and recipe selection in advance.

If you want to try meal planning, but it seems intimidating, start small with just one meal a day. “If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the idea of meal planning, start by just planning lunches or breakfasts for the week,” says Erica Adler, a personal chef, recipe developer, and co-author of the ebook Meal Prep Made Simple. “For whatever reason, I’ve always found them less intimidating than dinner. Or instead of planning for a full week in advance, start by just planning a couple of days in advance.” Over time, as you get more comfortable, you can scale up and start planning out two or three meals a day.

Start by creating a master list of your go-to recipes

The key to successful, easy meal planning starts with a list of go-to recipes that you know, love, and feel comfortable cooking. “Start a list in whatever notes app you prefer of meals you like,” says Abigail Koffler, a food writer, cooking instructor, and Adler’s co-author. “This could range from the simple (pasta with jarred marinara sauce and roasted broccoli with nutritional yeast is a staple in my home) to the more complex (sometimes you might be inspired to make flatbreads on a weeknight). You can link recipes from blogs or note their source — cookbook, newsletter, index card, TikTok — so they’re easy to reference and find while grocery shopping.”

There is an overwhelming number of recipes on the internet, and countless sources to choose from. If you’re not sure where to start, think about some of your favorite flavors or ingredients. “If you’re stuck for inspiration, pick one ingredient you love — or find in your pantry and want to use up — and find a few recipes that use it,” says Koffler. Search for recipes with those ingredients in food publications, like New York Times Cooking, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, or The Kitchn, or on food blogs such as Smitten Kitchen, What’s Gaby Cooking, or Half-Baked Harvest.

Every time you try a new recipe you like, add it to your list. While tracking your recipes might seem like an additional task on your to-do list, a small amount of effort to save and organize recipes upfront can help you save time in the long run. Over time, that recipe list will grow and evolve — and soon you’ll have a personal database of your favorites that you can always refer to.

To store and organize your recipes, choose a tool that you’ll use regularly — for some, that might be an iPhone note, as Koffler suggests; for others, it might be a spreadsheet. You can also use recipe storage apps such as Anylist or Paprika, which let you easily import recipes and organize them into categories, and then allow you to add ingredients from your stored recipes to your grocery list. I use Anylist for storing my recipes and managing my grocery list, and over six years, I’ve saved nearly 1,500 recipes in the app.

One bonus of using recipe manager apps is searchability and categorization. If you’re in the mood for, say, steak this week, you can search “steak” in your recipe app and pull up every steak recipe you’ve saved over the years and select one that sounds good. If you’re craving Mexican, you can look at the Mexican recipe category in your app and find one that satisfies.

Consult your calendar for the week and choose your recipes strategically

Each weekend, sit down and look at your calendar — or your household or family calendar — and consider which nights you’ll be home and you’ll need to cook meals.

Now that you have your master list of recipes, you can simply plug and play, says Koffler. Consult your recipe database and select a recipe for each night you’ll be home. Consider what will work best for your lifestyle and schedule — if Mondays are hectic because you work late or have to pick up the kids from soccer, perhaps it’s a good night for a slow cooker chili that will be ready to serve by the time you arrive home. If you know you’ll be short on time on Wednesday, it might be a good night for a sheet pan recipe that minimizes active cooking time.

Make sure to take stock of what’s in your pantry, fridge, and freezer beforehand, checking what produce or other ingredients you have left over from the previous week that you might want to use up. Factoring that into your recipe choices will help you save money — if you have salmon in the freezer, for instance, search for salmon in your recipe list and plug in a salmon recipe one night. If you have half a cabbage left over from the previous week, you might want to make a slaw that uses up some of it.

Koffler suggests choosing multiple recipes with the same ingredient, which helps maximize resources. “Maybe you buy two cans of coconut milk and use one in overnight oats and one in a soup. Or avoid food waste and split a bunch of herbs by using some in a grain salad and some in a dip.”

Once you’ve decided on a menu for the week, write it down and put it somewhere easily visible and accessible to all members of the household. I like to put them on a shared Google Calendar, since my husband and I both look at our Google Calendars daily. You might like a whiteboard on your fridge. Choose something that members of your household will look at regularly so no one ever has to ask you what’s for dinner tonight: They know where they can find the weekly menu.

Build a grocery list based on your meal plan and do one grocery shop a week

Now that you’ve selected meals, go through the ingredients list for each recipe in your meal plan and add those items to your shopping list. If you use a recipe manager app like Paprika or Anylist, these tools make this step extremely easy as they also have built-in grocery lists — you can click on ingredients in the recipes you’ve stored and add them to your list automatically. This can save a lot of time and mental work involved in manually cross-referencing every recipe’s ingredients list.

Then do one shopping trip for the week — or place a grocery delivery order — and get all the groceries you need for the recipes you’ve chosen. Doing so will help ensure that you already have all the ingredients that you’ll need to make each night’s dish — no more dashing out to the store because you realized you don’t have garlic on hand.

Shopping based on your meal plan will also help you save money on groceries, which are already more expensive than ever due to rising inflation. Shopping with a precise list based on the recipes you plan to make cuts down on food waste, since you only purchase exactly what you need, and minimizes extra shopping trips during the week — thus cutting down on impulse buys that might lead to increased spending over time.

Make weeknights less chaotic with some preparation on Sundays

Full-on meal prep — cooking all your meals for the week — can feel daunting, especially if it requires setting aside several hours on a day off to cook. But meal prep can be as simple as preparing a few items ahead that are “building blocks” — not full recipes but elements of recipes that can be used multiple ways, and will make getting dinner on the table on weeknights easier and faster.

For instance, taking 15 minutes to wash, peel, and chop produce can make it easier to make salads or roasted vegetables during the week. Cooking a big pot of grains such as rice or quinoa can make it faster to assemble grain bowls. Whisking together a dressing or sauce that can be used for multiple meals throughout the week can also save time and make meals feel fancier and more flavorful. Accomplishing just a couple of these tasks, which generally take no more than half an hour, can make busy weeknights after work a lot smoother by minimizing how much active cooking you need to do.

Don’t stress if it doesn’t all go according to plan

It’s okay to start small and take shortcuts — if you’re a novice cook, you don’t have to plan to make elaborate recipes every night. It’s fine to start with simple classics like pasta, tacos, chili, or whatever else feels accessible to you. And use prepared ingredients if they make your life easier: “I am such a fan of a semi-homemade dish,” says Adler. “You’ll often find me working a jarred sauce, precut veggie, or store-bought pesto into a recipe. There is absolutely no shame in a shortcut.”

If you feel stressed out by trying to stick to a plan, or just are too tired to cook one night, don’t beat yourself up. It’s okay to throw out the plan sometimes and do what feels best for you.

“The best-laid plans go awry, and meal planning should make your life easier, not harder,” Koffler says. “It’s okay to go off script if you’re not in the mood to make something, and you can always freeze things if you wind up going out to dinner unexpectedly.”

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How to cook and eat well when food is more expensive than ever

2022-11-18T16:10:46-05:00

Preparing butternut squash stew. | GMVozd/Getty Images

For those who love to cook, fall is peak cooking season. It’s literally harvest season, and there’s an abundance of beautiful produce that makes for cozy autumnal recipes: pumpkin bread, butternut squash soup, apple pie. And then there’s Thanksgiving, which can feel like the Olympics of home cooking: elaborate menus and cooking schedules, dozens of side dishes, and a giant turkey to roast.

At the same time, cooking in the fall of 2022 isn’t as simple as it used to be. Inflation is at the highest levels we’ve seen in decades, and food prices keep rising. Rising grocery prices have made it tougher than ever to eat and cook nutritiously. This Thanksgiving looks more expensive than ever thanks to a combination of forces: inflation, of course, but also Covid-induced supply chain issues, an avian flu outbreak resulting in a turkey shortage and a rise in poultry and egg prices, and the war in Ukraine causing a shortage of wheat and grain products. “When you think about things like turkeys and ingredients to make pies — eggs, flour, butter, fruit, vegetables — it’s going to be an expensive holiday season when it comes to putting food on the table,” says David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University.

“It’s going to be an expensive holiday season when it comes to putting food on the table”

On top of that, home cooks are inundated with messages about how they “should” eat: Food media encourages audiences to buy the freshest, highest quality in-season produce possible for their home cooking endeavors. Choose meat and seafood that is humanely raised — cage-free eggs, grass-fed beef, wild-caught fish. Shop at farmers markets rather than supermarkets to support farmers and small businesses. Eat less meat — especially red meat — and choose more plant-based options to do your part to reduce carbon emissions.

It’s increasingly complicated for consumers to know what decisions to make. Do they make the choice that’s best for their budgets, that’s best for the planet and for animals, the one that yields the best quality meals, the one that’s best for small businesses? How do you decide among your values, your budget, and your tastebuds? I asked several food experts for their perspectives on how home cooks can balance pressures in the kitchen.

Home cooks are facing a mix of competing demands

Many home cooks are bombarded with messages from food media, chefs, and activists to eat local, support farmers, and buy the best-quality in-season produce. Anjali Prasertong, a public health dietitian who writes the newsletter Antiracist Dietitian, says that chefs and food experts who send messages encouraging people to eat local often forget who that message excludes.

The day-to-day reality of many Americans often isn’t reflected by chefs and food media, Prasertong says; in a recent newsletter, she noted that farmers markets, CSAs, and other local food marketplaces can often be exclusionary spaces for people of color. She cites a quote from the famed chef Alice Waters in a Vogue interview last year, where Waters says: “We need to eat fewer animal products, and know where every bite comes from. I have beautiful eggs in my refrigerator right now, in every color, and I feel comfortable with that because I know the chickens are being raised right. Knowing where animal products come from is vitally important.”

When chefs and food media like Waters encourage everyone to shop at farmers markets and eat only the highest quality organic and local foods, they leave out a lot of people for whom that is simply not financially possible. “If you are a low-income person, if you have more than one job, you just don’t have the time to go shopping at multiple stores, let alone drive across town, use a lot of gas to visit a farmers market,” Prasertong says. She went on to explain how rarefied locations might not have familiar items, or might not accept SNAP benefits.

“You don’t have to think that the organic tomatoes from the farmers market are worth their high price”

Indeed, the messages from food publications and chefs encouraging readers to buy only the best in-season heirloom tomatoes or the insistence that wild-caught salmon is worth the splurge or the pressure to shop at farmers markets can often feel jarring when compared to our current economic reality. Ortega noted that low-income households “are the hardest hit by these rising food prices since they spend more of their income on food — the poorest 20 percent of households spend more than a quarter of their income on food.” And while most food media in 2022 isn’t so prescriptive as to say “everyone should buy local and organic,” they often feel like they are writing largely for the people who can afford to overindulge at the farmers market buying all varieties of seasonal produce; rarely do they write stories for those who are struggling with inflation, let alone those who might be trying to feed a family healthy meals using SNAP benefits.

These messages about the supposed “best” way to shop and consume food are often exclusionary, Prasertong says. “I think there is a kind of universalism … starting with the premise that everyone accepts your values, which are associated with the sort of affluent whiteness that you find in a farmers market and that kind of environment,” Prasertong elaborated. “Not everyone shares those values, and that’s not a bad thing. If your truth is, ‘I am trying to feed my family and I am on a limited budget,’ then you don’t have to think that the organic tomatoes from the farmers market are worth their high price. You can say, ‘That’s not worth it to me.’”

Sometimes “better” is just a scam designed to get you to pay more

Daisy Freund, vice president of farm animal welfare at the ASPCA, says that a big trap to watch out for is misleading and confusing claims on animal products that can often trick well-meaning consumers into paying more for products they think are more humane but actually aren’t. “Cage-free on egg cartons is meaningful, those birds otherwise would be raised in extreme confinement,” Freund explains, “but cage-free on chicken or turkey packaging, which I see everywhere, is meaningless and it adds no value because the birds are raised in giant crowded warehouses, not in cages.” Freund cited a recent example she saw at a grocery store in Brooklyn, New York: “There’s chicken thighs that are $4.49, and they’re labeled cage-free. Those birds had the exact same lives as the ones that are $3.09, the lowest-cost brand. So that’s $1.50 that someone just wasted.”

This practice of misleading labeling on animal products, often called “humanewashing,” is all too common and is designed to confuse shoppers. Freund cautions that terms like “natural” or “family farmed” have no regulated standards and don’t require anything from a legal perspective. She cited an example of chicken that was labeled “‘all-natural, antibiotic-free, and hand-raised on a family farm,’ which is laughable,” Freund says, since there are no regulated standards behind those terms. “It’s really a trap, and it’s unfortunately a place where a lot of people waste a lot of money, and the industry gets away with a lot,” Freund says. It’s clever marketing on the part of meat producers; by appealing to consumers’ good intentions, they can profit while not actually taking any action to improve animal welfare conditions.

Prioritize what’s right for you — and don’t feel guilty about your food choices

So what trade-offs should home cooks make, and what should they prioritize? Ultimately, that’s a decision each person has to make. As Prasertong says, not everyone has the same shared values: Deciding what trade-offs you want to make starts with deciding what values are most important to you. It may be unrealistic for most people to eat healthfully and shop at the farmers market and buy higher-welfare animal products while food costs continue to rise at rapid rates. So it’s okay to choose what matters most to you and not feel guilty about it.

Carey Polis, a freelance food editor and avid home cook, says that for her, it’s worth shopping at the farmers market for select items that she loves when they’re in peak season but going to the supermarket or other more affordable sources for the rest of her groceries. “I shop from Amazon Fresh, I shop at the farmers market, and I buy different tiers of eggs,” Polis says. “I’m not shopping at the farmers market every week for all of my vegetables, I’m shopping at them when there’s something special or something that I know is really going to make a difference … I will buy in-season tomatoes at the farmers market because having those a few times a year is special and wonderful and exciting and really is absolutely delicious. But I’m not buying them twice a week year-round, it’s something I look forward to a few times in the summer,” Polis says.

Prasertong has another tip: consider frozen vegetables. “A lot of people disparage frozen produce, but that often is preserved at a point soon after it was picked, so using that type of produce is completely fine from a health perspective and often from a taste perspective,” Prasertong says. “And if you’re watching what you spend, it makes a lot of sense to have vegetables on hand that aren’t going to go bad in a week, they can last much longer.”

“Small changes really can make a really big impact”

Many home cooks want to eat more humane animal products, but better quality products can often be more expensive; in the face of inflation, it’s reasonable to want to buy the most affordable options possible. But Freund says it is possible to buy humanely produced meat, egg, and dairy products while still saving money. “There is this perception that eating higher-welfare products is cost prohibitive, but small changes really can make a really big impact, and it starts with knowing what to look for and not getting tricked into buying something expensive without actually adding that value,” Freund says.

For shoppers who want to buy more humanely raised animal products, Freund and the ASPCA recommend looking out for products with one or more of the following certifications: Animal Welfare Approved, Certified Humane, and Global Animal Partnership. If you can’t find affordable brands with those certifications, Freund has other recommendations on what to look for on animal product labels if you want to buy higher-welfare products. With meats, look for organic and pasture-raised; with eggs, look for organic and/or cage-free; and with dairy, look for 100 percent grass-fed.

Freund also suggests that cost-conscious consumers who want to buy more humane animal products look for generic brands — there are store brands that have met the ASPCA’s welfare certifications, and store brands are generally cheaper than name brands. She named supermarket chains Aldi, Costco, and Stop & Shop as three examples whose store brands have met the ASPCA’s recommended welfare certifications.

Another strategy that many in the animal welfare space recommend: eating less meat, but better meat. Choosing to eat less meat doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing approach, Freund says — small changes to your meat consumption, such as eating plant-based meals one night a week, can make a big impact; you don’t have to go fully vegetarian or vegan to make a difference. And choosing more affordable plant-based proteins, such as beans or tofu, more often can help minimize costs so that when you do choose to eat meat, you can afford to buy higher-welfare meats.

Whatever you choose to prioritize, there’s no need to feel guilty. If you feel ashamed about choosing to shop at the supermarket instead of the farmers market or buying the cheapest brand of eggs instead of the more expensive, higher quality ones, Prasertong says you shouldn’t feel bad for making the choices that are right for you.

“I completely understand the guilt and shame and feeling pressure over what is the right thing to do. And I think it’s sort of a distraction, and it’s very American that we’ve made all of these characteristics of our personal choices [around food],” Prasertong says. “Instead of demanding organic, ethical food be available to everyone, we’re treating it more like it’s a choice, so if you choose, then you are kind of a better person because you’re making that choice. [But] that’s not really a choice for someone who can’t afford it.”

And know that you’re not alone: Data shows inflation is changing consumers’ choices broadly, says Ortega: “Consumers are cutting back, especially in categories where we are seeing the highest increases. And they are also shopping around more, bargain hunting. Consumers are trading down in terms of brands, and we are seeing a rise in demand for store brands or private labels.”

“It feels like almost any food purchase you make is just wracked with guilt, because either you’re spending too much money or you’re doing something bad for the earth,” says Polis. “You can’t do it all, so choose the few lanes that you can do because I don’t know how anyone could afford to do everything.”

The 2022 Future Perfect 50

2024-11-21T09:40:36-05:00

Check out our 2024 list here.

Fighting global poverty and injustice

Confronting humanity’s biggest threats

Imagining the future

Working toward a healthier world

Expanding the rights of animals

Helping us think better

About the list

Introducing the 2022 Future Perfect 50

Ramps, spring’s trendiest produce, explained

2021-05-14T10:00:06-04:00

Ramps served with pancetta and eggs at LaLou in Brooklyn | Courtesy LaLou

If you haven’t heard, it’s ramps season. A comedy video from TikTok user Jake W. Cornell parodying a well-heeled Brooklyn dad panicking that his kid wouldn’t get to experience this year’s “ramps season” before it’s over has gone viral. “I’ve tried three markets, I’m literally in the park foraging right now and there are no ramps!” he yells into the phone at his husband.

The video has nearly a million views, and the comments are full of two types of people in particular — those saying they also love ramps season, and those reasonably asking: What are ramps, and what the heck is a ramp season?

Ramps are a wild onion that shows up briefly every spring and must be foraged. For the food-obsessed on the East Coast, “ramp season” has now become an annual frenzy. The combination of the rare, limited availability of these little alliums and the brief window in which they’re available makes them highly coveted among the type of people who obsess about their produce.

@jakewcornell
A gay father in Brooklyn goes foraging. #brooklyn #parenting #comedy
♬ original sound – Jake Cornell

The recent obsession with ramps has also driven up demand, making them expensive Prices can sometimes run up to as much as $20 a pound. This has raised concerns about overharvesting and sustainability of the plant, and worries that even with such high prices, little of that money makes it back to the rural communities that supply ramps.

Ramp mania in affluent cities has also become something of a class marker. Talking about “ramps season” these days is a way to show taste and sophistication, to signal to people that you care about locally sourced produce and knowing where your food comes from. Ramp-obsessed urbanites have turned what was once a relatively obscure allium most popular in the Appalachian region into something that bougie New Yorkers hunt down at restaurants and farmers markets every April.

Here’s what you need to know about this little plant that drives some food-obsessed East Coast residents into a frenzy every spring — and the costs of this obsession.

What are ramps, and what is the big deal about them?

Ramps, also sometimes called wild leeks, are a type of wild onion, and they look similar to a scallion or spring onion — they have a bulb and a tall stalk and long, flat green leaves on top. They have a strong flavor that can taste like a cross between an onion and garlic. They’re often served grilled or sautéed, or incorporated into pasta dishes, turned into vinaigrette, pesto, or butter; they can also be pickled and saved for later in the year.

There are a few reasons there’s so much fuss about ramps compared to other spring produce, and they largely add up to exclusivity. One reason is that ramps aren’t farmed — they’re wild, so they can only be acquired through foraging. This means supply is much more limited than other related alliums like scallions or leeks, which are more widely available since farmers can grow them in mass quantities. (There are some growing movements to try to cultivate ramps, but they haven’t gotten a lot of traction yet.)

The second reason ramps are so exclusive is that they’re in season for a very brief period before they disappear again, typically from mid-April to early May, which only adds to their allure. This means they’re available at grocery stores and farmers markets for just a short window every spring, which can lead to shoppers sometimes fighting to get the last bunch.

Ramps thrive in Appalachia and are a big part of local food culture in the region

Ramps grow all over the eastern US and Canada, and are especially prevalent in West Virginia and the Appalachian region.

“In West Virginia, [ramps] are a prominent part of local foraging practices, collectively shared knowledge and stewardship of the land, and the centerpiece of springtime community gatherings — often intended to draw both locals and tourists as fundraisers for schools and community organizations,” said Emily Hilliard, the state folklorist of West Virginia. Many towns have been holding these community dinners and festivals celebrating ramps for nearly a century; the town of Richwood, West Virginia, which calls itself the “ramp capital of the world,” is holding its 82nd annual Feast of the Ramson (another name for ramps) this month. In 1930, a West Virginia man was dubbed the “King of Ramps” because he was reportedly able to forage ramps faster than anyone else in town.

Wild Ramps from Rick Bishop at Mountain Sweet Berry Farm. | We preserve the bottoms and often use the green tops for sautéing or making a nice flavorful oil. #purveyors #nyc pic.twitter.com/ibTkLkSK9W
— Per Se (@PerSeNY) July 26, 2019

Mike Costello, a chef and farmer who runs Lost Creek Farm in West Virginia with his partner Amy Dawson, said that the local ramp dinners play a big role in building community in rural Appalachian towns. “This might be one of a couple community events they have each year. So it’s one of the only times people in rural communities can get together and enjoy this fellowship,” he told Vox. The dinners can also provide financial support for the town, he added: “Sometimes you might have a town that has a ramp dinner every year and that dinner is the fundraiser that helps them pay their municipal electric bill every year. There’s a history and heritage that people celebrate with the act of foraging and going to the woods to gather the things to prepare for the summer.”

Costello also says that one of the reasons ramps are so celebrated in Appalachian communities is because they signal the arrival of springtime. “There’s so much wrapped up in what it means to change seasons. Especially with spring, there’s this shift out of the winter months, the cold grayness, there’s this greenery and it’s sort of like a little taste of what’s to come, so it’s a cause for celebration,” Costello said. “That’s part of what people here in this region see out of ramps, and why ramps have more cultural significance in this place than others. … There’s more of a connection to the land, and those cycles are very significant for us.”

How ramps went from Appalachian staple to fine-dining restaurant menus

Outside of Appalachia and other regions where ramps grow, this allium was still a pretty obscure ingredient until the past couple of decades, after which it quickly went from an Appalachian food tradition to something that chefs at Michelin-starred restaurants work into their menus every spring.

In New York, farmer Rick Bishop is often credited with being one of the early farmers market pioneers who brought ramp mania to cities. Bishop runs Mountain Sweet Berry Farm in upstate New York, and has a stand at the popular Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan. Bishop is known for foraging wild foods growing in the Catskills — especially ramps — and he supplies his ramps to some of New York’s top restaurants, including Per Se, David Chang’s Momofuku restaurants, and Gramercy Tavern. Food websites like Eater and Grub Street (both our sister websites at Vox Media) often report each year on when Bishop’s ramps have arrived at farmers markets in New York. Soon after, like clockwork, ramp dishes start showing up on local restaurant menus.

Grub Street reported in 2013 that ramps started to really become a part of New York restaurant culture around 1996; this was the first year ramp dishes became a popular mainstay on many menus, including “ramps vinaigrette at Capsouto Freres; ramps with morels and spaetzle at Peter Hoffman’s Savoy; spaghetti with ramps and pecorino at Mario Batali’s Pó; and ramps galore at Gramercy Tavern, where Tom Colicchio served sautéed sweetbreads with morels and ramps, as well as cod with fondue of ramps and bacon.”

Recently, after having a dish with ramps at LaLou, a wine bar in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, I emailed the chef, Jay Wolman, to ask: Why are people obsessed with ramps?

“I think ramps deserve all the hype and fascination associated with them,” Wolman replied. “I think it’s the allure of something you cannot replicate or cultivate, they have to be searched and foraged for. Anything that requires that sort of effort comes with a good story, and when you know the story of where the food comes from, it always tastes better.”

Ilene Rosen, co-owner of R&D Foods, a specialty grocer and cafe in Brooklyn, and the author of Saladish: A Crunchier, Grainier, Herbier, Heartier, Tastier Way With Vegetables, also loves ramps. “For me, it is their early arrival that fuels my anticipation for all spring produce,” Rosen said. She shared Costello’s sentiment that part of the hype about ramps’ arrival is because they’re one of the first spring vegetables to hit markets each year, and serve as a sign of the changing of seasons, a way to mark the end of a long, dreary winter.

And Costello, who grew up surrounded by community ramp dinners, remarked: “To me, it’s kind of funny being here in West Virginia and seeing this phenomenon.” When he was growing up, “there was no reason to expect they would have ended up on fine dining menus; that would have been totally absurd for me to think of when I was 16 and first wanted to be a chef. Because at that time Appalachian food wasn’t trendy at all, it was kind of something people were actively trying to separate themselves from, so it’s been funny to witness this trend.”

The skyrocketing demand for ramps has raised concerns, too

Demand for ramps has grown so much in recent years that some botanists are concerned about overharvesting and sustainability of the plant. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park banned ramp harvesting in 2004, and in Canada, Quebec made it entirely illegal since the plant is considered endangered — which then led to a black market of ramp smuggling.

Costello also has deep concerns about overharvesting. “As foragers and people connected to the land, we have to see ourselves in community with those plants that sustain us. We have a responsibility to not only sustainably harvest them but to teach others to sustainably harvest and make sure that’s part of that body of knowledge that gets passed forward,” Costello said.

There is a growing movement of people advocating for more sustainable methods of harvesting ramps. The Cherokee have been foraging ramps for centuries, and they recommend cutting off only the tops of the plants and leaving the roots still growing, instead of pulling out the entire plant. And Bishop told the New York Times that he makes sure not to hit the same patch of ramps more than once every five years and rotates foraging from different areas, so the plants have time to recover.

Costello also pointed out that while many ramps come from West Virginia, rural communities that supply ramps to the rest of the US might not be seeing the financial benefits of the ramp craze.

Consumers should think more about “what your social responsibility is to communities that are providing these resources to you,” Costello said. “This is the thing restaurants in DC or other places don’t necessarily think about. They’re getting ramps they might pay $10 wholesale for; the person who dug those ramps probably only gets $1 or $2 a pound for it. That’s not enough money to make sure that the time is invested to sustainably harvest those ramps. I remember in DC, at [a grocery store], seeing ramps for $25 a pound. But whoever dug those ramps is probably not seeing that cash.”

So do ramps even taste good?

Honestly? As a person who cares a lot about food, I have a controversial opinion on this: I think ramps are a touch overrated. Hear me out! Eating whole grilled or sautéed ramps is just not that enjoyable because the flavor is so strong. Melted leeks are sweeter and richer in flavor, while scallions provide a nice crunch and sharp flavor for garnishing a dish.

In most cultures, onions and other alliums are generally used as a component of a dish, not the main attraction. Garlic, onions, leeks, scallions, chives, shallots, because of their strong, sharp flavor when raw, are most often chopped, diced, minced, and then sautéed or otherwise cooked or worked into the base of the dish, as a building block that adds flavor. Most recipes don’t typically center onions or garlic as the star of a meal — they’re more like a supporting actor.

But during ramps season, ramps are often treated as the main attraction. Because they’re so rare, chefs and home cooks get excited when they arrive each year and then bend over backward trying to find ways to prepare and serve them, when in many cases a dish could be better served by leeks or scallions or chives for flavor. The rarity of this foraged food might make ramps feel more exciting, but unfortunately, in my opinion, it does not make them taste better.

That’s not to say ramps are bad; I think they just might be a tad overhyped in some circles. And that hype has raised ethical concerns, too — when many Americans are struggling to access and afford healthy food, ramps are an obsession of the bougie and affluent, those who can afford a vegetable that runs at $20 a pound. And many of the wealthy shoppers buying up ramps in cities likely give very little thought to how much their ramp obsession might drive overharvesting of the plant, or how much of that $20 goes back to workers and communities that supply them at low prices.

But by all means, if you want to try ramps, I’m not here to discourage you. When shopping at farmers markets or dining at restaurants, it’s worth looking for ramps that have been harvested sustainably. And if you’re buying them yourself, consider buying them in small quantities rather than buying tons, so that you don’t contribute to the problem of overharvesting.

And if you haven’t had a chance to get in on this year’s ramps season, don’t worry — there’s always next year.

How Best Picture nominee Judas and the Black Messiah questions the meaning of freedom

2021-04-22T13:40:56-04:00

Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah. | Warner Bros.

This year, eight films are in the running for Best Picture, the most prestigious award at the Oscars. That’s a lot of movies to watch, analyze, and enjoy! So in the days before the ceremony on April 25, Vox staffers are looking at each of the nominees in turn. What makes this film appealing to Academy voters? What makes it emblematic of the year? And should it win?

Below, Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson, director of audience and engagement Nisha Chittal, video producer Coleman Lowndes, and identities reporter Fabiola Cineas talk about Judas and the Black Messiah, Shaka King’s powerful drama about the assassination of Black Panthers Illinois Chapter Chairman Fred Hampton.

Judas and the Black Messiah’s dynamic recapturing of history

Alissa Wilkinson: Judas and the Black Messiah blew me away when I first watched it. Partly for obvious reasons — the story is powerful and damning — and partly because it’s just tremendously well-directed. I know I won’t forget Daniel Kaluuya and (my personal favorite) LaKeith Stanfield’s performances when it’s time to make my best-of-2021 lists later this year.

I knew the basic outlines of the story of Fred Hampton’s assassination and the FBI’s attempt to quash Black activism and the Panthers at that time. But I didn’t know about Bill O’Neal, and it felt smart to me to cast them in the bigger messiah/traitor mold — and then subvert it to show that even O’Neal was the victim of betrayal.

But I’d like to hear from you: When you watched the film, what drew you into it? What stuck in your mind? And how did you feel about O’Neal by the end?

Nisha Chittal: I didn’t know a lot about Judas and the Black Messiah going in — I hadn’t read any reviews or coverage, so I had little idea of what to expect and then found myself just totally gripped by the film the entire time. I felt like I needed to decompress afterward because it had been such an intense viewing experience, but in a good way. It’s the kind of film that is so well-made that it completely captures your undivided attention from start to finish.

Like you, Alissa, I knew the basic outlines of Fred Hampton’s story but I didn’t know about Bill O’Neal. I thought the film did a good job of capturing the complexity of his story and his own struggles instead of just casting him as a pure villain.

And yes, everyone’s talking about LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya’s performances, and with good reason. But another character that really stayed with me was Hampton’s partner Deborah Jones, played by Dominique Fishback. I thought her performance was really moving and deserves more attention, too.

Coleman Lowndes: I also didn’t know much about Judas and the Black Messiah going into it, and to be totally honest I didn’t know the story of Fred Hampton. But the way the opening credits blends rich archival footage seamlessly into the film’s setup was a really engaging way to bring any viewer up to speed on the context of the story.

That, coupled with the first scene, where LaKeith Stanfield clumsily poses as an FBI agent to steal a car, totally hooked me. Those first few minutes really set the tone of a high-stakes historical drama and a carefully crafted period piece dripping with cool and deception. The rest of the movie didn’t disappoint.

Like Nisha, I appreciated that the film was careful not to portray O’Neal as an outright villain, and more of an extension of a sinister FBI. Stanfield’s performance of the character felt like what I imagine the real O’Neal was: a sort of incompetent con man in way over his head.

Fabiola Cineas: I can’t get over how young all of these people were. That Hampton was only 21 when he was assassinated and that O’Neal was only 17 when he started informing the FBI about the Panthers in Chicago blows my mind. But this startling reality holds true in how Kaluuya, 32, and Stanfield, 29, portrayed these characters. It’s evident in how Stanfield is clumsy (the way he scrambled around the Panthers headquarters before the shootout) and almost naive in his race traitor lifestyle.

The moment when he asked FBI agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) how much money he makes is a great example of this. Kaluuya is masterful in the way he plays a character who is somewhat gentle and soft but also speaks of revolution, AK-47s, and killing pigs. I’m impressed by how the script skillfully presented layers of nuance, questioning what it means to really be “free,” for example. Hampton speaks of freedom when he’s out of prison, saying he’s finally free, but it was clear he wasn’t. Following Hampton’s assassination, Mitchell tells O’Neal he’s finally free, but it was clear he wasn’t.

This movie did not make me hate O’Neal. I pitied him because of how writer-director Shaka King managed to show O’Neal’s suffering. I found myself keeping tabs on what was moral and immoral in this film, and O’Neal actions definitely landed on the immoral side most of the time.

Alissa: I think the switch-up of expectations that the film creates from the title — that O’Neal will be the “Judas” of the story (and he is, to an extent) — is wonderfully undercut by the realization that O’Neal is railroaded by the FBI. As I said in my review, there’s another layer here: That the people who are supposedly given authority to “protect” citizens are actually actively trying to harm them is, itself, a betrayal.

Also, I’m with Nisha on not forgetting that Dominique Fishback, who plays Hampton’s partner Deborah Johnson, is fantastic in what is arguably a too-small role!

I’m curious about something you said, Fabiola — the idea of freedom that this movie sets up. For instance, Hampton and the Black Panthers see that for everyone to be free, they have to create a coalition between groups that might otherwise be fighting for whatever scraps of freedom the powerful send their way. Are there ways that Judas and the Black Messiah made you think about freedom, or about even today’s politics, in different ways? And if so, how?

Judas and the Black Messiah is about events in the past, but it resonates loudly today

Nisha: I agree with Fabiola that the movie made me feel pity for O’Neal. Just portraying him as the “bad guy” would be too binary; he clearly wrestled with the moral consequences of what he was doing, but he had very few choices himself — he was not free.

It certainly felt very relevant to today’s politics; I thought a lot about the events of 2020 and how so little has changed. I think it can be easy for some audiences to watch this movie about the government brutally murdering a Black man and think wow, I can’t believe that happened, it’s not like that today. But in many ways it still is; racism and police brutality against Black Americans is obviously still persisting, we’re in the middle of the trial of Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd right now as we speak. Watching the film made me reflect on how much has changed and yet how little has changed.

Coleman: What really stuck out to me as something that still feels very contemporary was the language that advocates of white supremacy use around the “right way” to press for basic human rights. In that same scene Fabiola mentioned, where O’Neal is in Mitchell’s house for the first time, Mitchell says something along the lines of being “all for equality” but “you can’t jump the line,” referring to the Panthers’ willingness to arm themselves and use violence when necessary.

That same language of “taking it too far” was used to condemn the upheaval after Freddie Gray’s death at the hands of police in Baltimore in 2015, and around the Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd’s killing by police last summer.

The theme of oppressors determining who gets to be free, and when, plays out in Mitchell and O’Neal’s relationship, too. Even after Hampton is imprisoned, and O’Neal wants out, Mitchell lets O’Neal know that he hasn’t done enough yet to earn his own freedom.

Judas and the Black Messiah. | Glen Wilson/Warner Bros." data-portal-copyright="Glen Wilson/Warner Bros." />

Fabiola: Judas and the Black Messiah only affirmed what has been true for centuries about the relationship between white supremacy and violence in America. Those who want to uphold white supremacy will go lengths to protect it. This is evident in the loaded question FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) asks Mitchell about his eight-month-old daughter: “What will you do when she brings home a Negro?”

The question throws Mitchell off-guard and Hoover uses it as an opportunity to verbalize the FBI’s racist mission that’s at the core of the film: “When you look at Hampton, think of Samantha, because that’s what’s at stake if we lose this war. Our entire way of life. Rape. Pillage. Conquer. You follow me?” This scene escalates the intensity of the film and pushes us through the final half of it. A desire to preserve whiteness and its benefits is what’s wrong with policing, housing, education, health, and other areas of our society.

The line that you pointed out, Coleman, definitely stuck with me, too. The narrative is still that we have to wait and not “cheat” for civil rights — this reasoning didn’t make sense then and it doesn’t make sense now. It also connects to how Mitchell equates the Panthers with the KKK when he says that both groups are “one and the same” with a shared aim of sowing hatred and inspiring terror. Today, there’s a constant false equivalency made between white extremists and Black Lives Matter, with claims that there’s violence on all sides. And it was recently found that that FBI and other police organizations were surveilling and spying on Black journalists and activists.

Alissa: Honestly, despite the gap of many years since this film’s events and today, everything in it seems incredibly fresh. That’s just so angering to consider.

Okay, so I have one more question. If someone watched Judas and the Black Messiah and wanted more recommendations on what to check out next, where would you send them? Movies, podcasts, shows, books — anything that reminded you of this movie, or might help fill out the story more?

What to watch and read after you’ve seen Judas and the Black Messiah

Fabiola: The Spook Who Sat By the Door was on my mind. It’s definitely a bit of a flip on the Judas and the Black Messiah story but totally related. In the 1969 Sam Greenlee novel (published 10 months before Hampton’s assassination), the CIA hires Dan Freeman as its only Black operative via an affirmative action program. He’s secretly a Black nationalist, so when the CIA treats him as the token he eventually leaves and heads back to his hometown of Chicago. There, he secretly trains groups of young Black men in the tactics he learned from the CIA, leading them to overthrow “the system.” The book was adapted into the 1973 film by the same name and there’s an upcoming FX pilot of the story produced by Lee Daniels.

I also want to direct people to The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975 (2011) and The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2015) — two powerful documentaries that provide a lot of raw context about the Party and its aims. And since we all agree that Dominique Fishback’s portrayal of Deborah Johnson, now Akua Njeri, was impeccable, I want to spotlight how women were key to the Black Panther Party. I recommend the autobiography “Assata,” in which former Black Panther Assata Shakur (she eventually left the Party for the Black Liberation Army) chronicles the harrowing story of how she was a target of the state and J. Edgar Hoover’s campaign to criminalize Black nationalists.

Lastly, A Taste of Power is the memoir of the Black Panther Party’s only chairwoman Elaine Brown. She led the party from 1974 to 1977 when Chairman Huey P. Newton went into exile in Cuba. Her story is important and isn’t talked about enough.

Nisha: Fabiola’s recommendations are excellent! From my end, I’d say that Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield are both among the best actors working today, and it’s worth seeking out some of their other performances. You can see them both together in Get Out, but for the very best of Stanfield, you have to watch Atlanta. Daniel Kaluuya is terrifying in Steve McQueen’s film Widows. And for context, Fred Hampton’s death figures into a critical moment in another one of this year’s Best Picture nominees, The Trial of the Chicago Seven, from a very different point of view. I recommend watching both and making up your own mind about how each story is told.

Coleman: To be honest, I’m not sure what to add! I knew very little about the Black Panther Party going into this film, and it definitely left me wanting to learn more. Fabiola’s recommendations seem like a great place to start.

Seconding what Nisha said, and if you want more LaKeith Stanfield in particular, writer/director Boots Riley’s 2018 debut Sorry to Bother You is an absolute must-see.

Alissa: Ooh, yes — Sorry to Bother You is a banger, and a radical film all on its own.

I’d also add Agnes Varda’s short 1970 documentary Black Panthers (which you can rent on digital platforms, though it’s also streaming on the Criterion Channel). It really digs into what the Panthers were doing during the time period this film covers, and includes a lot of interviews with the Panthers, including Huey Newton, who at the time was in prison.

And I’ve recommended this over and over this year, but for a different twist on the work of the Panthers — this time in the UK — I can’t recommend Steve McQueen’s Mangrove more. It’s part of his Small Axe collection of films from 2020, and it’s the best courtroom drama I’ve ever seen.

Judas and the Black Messiah is playing in theaters and available to digitally rent on platforms including Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Google Play. Find our discussions of the other 2021 Best Picture nominees here.